WvW condie vanilla engi suggestions?

After a couple of years of running a scrapper as my main I've decided to return to p/s build that I originally started the game with. I run mid-line in a zerg, usually as a "vulture" i.e. finishing off downs knocked down by the front line. I n-hug the tag so I'm running sustain build (tools: 2/3/3, Inventions: 1/3/1, Alchemy 1/2/1) with some group support (anti-corrosion plating + over shield), celestial stats (4 legendary amour pieces) and scrapper runes. I usually run with HT, Elixir U, Elixir S and Rocket Boots. Any suggestions there a build that would allow me to deal significantly more damage possibly using an off-hand pistol without being too glassy? Is this possible or am I smoking crack and should just revert back to Scrapper or try out the Holo more?

Yeah there's just no possible way to build to be a tank and get more damage out of Pistol when comparing it to Hammer or Photon Forge.

Non-glass conditions? Rabid and Traveler obviously.

Never understood why pistols/shield are so bad..guess I'll switch back to Scrapper..

@Jaruselka.5943 said:Never understood why pistols/shield are so bad..guess I'll switch back to Scrapper..Because pistol attacks are slow as all kitten and the only truly damaging skill is pistol 4.

Vanilla condi engie is pretty much meaningless in a zerg. Too short range and next to no utility. Engie overall had some purpose back in the HoT days because it was decent at condi sustaining people down at range while having bite at close range. After PoF however, scourge got all the condi skills with no melee dependancy like the reaper and then of course you got further competition from the condi mirage... yeah.... That pushed the condi engie into a dark hole of obscurity.

At best, I guess you could get some limited zerg use out of an apothecary build (ie condi+healing) and be a little useful as a pseudo support. Even then you dont want to run vanilla, you want to run scrapper to get the stab from gyros and good reflect.

Condi engineer is generally not a burst-condi spam class like Scourge or Mirage but a constant pressure class. Therefore, it will be very difficult to find a useful condi build in a Zerg.Lack of ranged AOE condi skills would force you to fight on the frontlines. There I would share my opinion with Dawdler, that you can use Apothecary to provide some healing + water fields + explos in addition to medium condition damage.

Vanilla condi engi in roaming is fine though, use wanderers, apothecarys (my favourite) or other stats that provide you the desired survivability and run any build you feel comfortable with :). Counter to condi engi is imho only Mirage, on which you can hardly apply enough pressure inbetween all his clone Spams. But other than that you can take on any other class if played correctly.

I use rabid weapons and armour, dire/rabid trinkets.

Pistol is condi utility. #4 hurts if you can land it. 2 needs dropping when they go to try and heal up. 3 is okay but mainly I use it for the blind. If you run shield, you need to find your dps in a kit somewhere.

Dual pistol should take toolkit for the block as a minimum. Prybar is a tasty skill and magnet pull is a great opener but really needs stealth to land it against anyone good. The slow tel either begs to be dodged or interrupted.

Even with one kit, you find yourself running out of CDs...

I could recommend(ish) this... http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQJAqalUUh2tYJXwvLw6FLsF1YbMGfh4GVFPB4HWiBAA-j1RTABXo8jmHAAO6BAY/hIPBAHpEsK1fIFgvKrA-w

Off this doesn't have stealth, you could swap elixir gun for S and master trait to SRD to make it a bit easier at the cost of sustain, utility (egun 3 and 5 are golden) and that 21 sec stubbreak off the toolbelt.

Top opener for me is stealth if you can...or count dodges(toss S or gyro if scrapper)>magnet pull (make sure they don't have stab or aegis or your next won't land)prybar>blowtorch>rocket kick then whatever makes sense in the situation. Acid bomb and boots are good for creating space (the latter for gap closing)

I play condi pistols in WvW. I find it fun, but to be honest, it's really only decent for roaming. There is no way to deal a significant amount of damage like holo or even scrapper can. There's too much aoe cleanse and your main damaging condition skills are on relatively long cooldowns.

In any large fight or zerg, you want to be far away from the main group, preferably flanking the opponent's backline, pulling them 1200 away from their blob with Magnet, keeping them there with Glue Shot while you Blowtorch/Pry Bar/Rocket Kick them, then staying close to finish the stomp or aoe bomb if people come to res them.

Even then, it's not that effective. You'd be better off playing thief or deadeye and just spiking them down. It gives them less chance to cleanse and/or get back to their zerg for a res.

I've been playing around with my core engi in wvw the last few weeks. I run explosives, alchemy and tools with cele stats. P/S, HT (sometimes medkit), TK, Rocket Boots, Grenades and I switch between mortar and supply crate. Explosives give me cripple chance, which is nades and mortar. Only have the stun break from tool line, so have to be on your toes., but with the 1200 RB, you can outrun anything.You're never going to be a big help with core engi, but I find that the cripple and fields from mortar are decent at harassing. And pulling with magnet is huge to separate the soft ones from the herd.There's a lot of blinds in this build and plenty of condi to whittle them down.It's an all purpose build, not great at any particular facet and I have fun with it.

@Mighty Favazz.1546 said:I've been playing around with my core engi in wvw the last few weeks. I run explosives, alchemy and tools with cele stats. P/S, HT (sometimes medkit), TK, Rocket Boots, Grenades and I switch between mortar and supply crate. Explosives give me cripple chance, which is nades and mortar. Only have the stun break from tool line, so have to be on your toes., but with the 1200 RB, you can outrun anything.You're never going to be a big help with core engi, but I find that the cripple and fields from mortar are decent at harassing. And pulling with magnet is huge to separate the soft ones from the herd.There's a lot of blinds in this build and plenty of condi to whittle them down.It's an all purpose build, not great at any particular facet and I have fun with it.

Sounds like the Kind of build I like :D absolutely out of meta but still a ton of fun^^ in the Zerg you have to rely on the stability from your Group anyway, so I think it makes not much difference if you have one or two stun-breaks there.

Great feedback all around!Thanks for the input!